Blinding Light, Hidden Shadows
by A Wandering Tiger
Summary: Mapleshade knows that she is the one who will lead the invasion on StarClan. Lionheart knows that he has to stop her. Simple border skirmishes turn out to be the start of the biggest war the clans have ever fought!
1. Setting the Scene

** This is a writing challenge that I accepted off of the Warriors Challenge Forum. **

**Enjoy :)**

Light can only be found in one location of the Dark Forest. Tigerstar was the first to find it, and he soon converted it to his training field. The small patch of trees in the middle is sufficient for the WindClan cats to learn to fight in the undergrowth, and the polluted lake held daily ShadowClan training sessions.

Every cat thought that Tigerstar was in charge of the Dark Forest. He was strong, ambitious, and had a way to get what he wanted. Cats feared him, and followed him without betrayal. Every cat, with the exception of one. One who was the true leader of the feared group. After she was given a little leadership to taste, every cat knew that she would take over. Every cat, with the exception of Tigerstar.

Tigerstar unsheathed his claws, and hurtled onto a dark red she-cat. If she was surprised, she didn't show it. She spun around, wrestling Tigerstar into the rocks. The former leader jumped to his paws, and met her snarl with a fierce growl.

Any other cat would have fled.

Mapleshade moved first, her claws latching onto Tigerstar's fur. Silently wincing in pain, he kicked at her with all the strength he could muster, sending her rolling to the side. He didn't wait for her to get up.

They ran in full flight, colliding against each other. With a swift movement in her wrist, Mapleshade slammed his back, and then tackled him with full force. He shoved her to the side, but remained on the ground, his eyes blazing.

"I've been training longer than you, young one," Mapleshade purred, a fierce gleam of triumph in her eye. She licked her paw where there was a patch of fur missing. He would pay for that.

Tigerstar stood up, careful to not show any sign of ache. "Come with me."

_Three moons later..._

The moon was bright in StarClan's territory.

The sounds of amusement could be heard throughout the territory, along with the gentle sound of the stream, and of the warm breeze that drifted through the pale blue sky.

To most cats, this was an average day in StarClan's hunting grounds. To a few, this was a day that would determine their future.

Palefur watched as five cats arranged themselves around her. Whitestorm and Oakheart followed Spottedleaf, Yellowfang, and Bluestar. Spottedleaf slowly moved to the front of their Newleaf makeshift shelter, wondering how she should phrase her next words.

"The Dark Forest is planning an invasion on us!" Spottedleaf blurted out bluntly.

The others hoped that this was a false alarm, and in a panic, rushed to think of a plausible scenario.

"Aren't they always?" Palefur asked, trying to interpret the urgency in her voice.

"We have nothing to worry about," Bluestar said. "We have StarClan cats guarding the borders. Always."

"They have a way to get past them."

"They are clever," Whitestorm agreed.

"The mainland of our hunting grounds are hidden. Even if they found a way to bypass our borders, there would be no damage done," Bluestar challenged.

"I don't know. However, at moonhigh, I chased one out of our territory. Apparently it's not as safe as we thought."

Every cat turned to face her. Palefur continued to glance in her direction, Oakheart stopped rubbing his ears with his right paw, and Bluestar sat down. They all looked at her in surprise.

"I guess I should have mentioned that before..." Spottedleaf meowed. _Why did I do that?_

"Yeah," Palefur said, deep in thought.

"What will we do?"

"We could increase border patrols," Whitestorm suggested. "They could have memorized our routine."

"How did _they_ get past in the first place?" Bluestar murmured to herself.

"We need to send out a spy," Palefur suggested, her confidence growing. "They are sending cats into our territory, so why shouldn't we scout out theirs?"

"How would _we_ get passed their borders?" Bluestar murmured to herself.

"How come all the cats deciding this are ThunderClan?" Yellowfang asked. "This is a group decision. We need more than one RiverClan cat to confirm and support our ideas!"

"Before you go," Spottedleaf started, "I want to acknowledge Palefur's idea. I think that would be the smartest course of action."

Yellowfang nodded, "but we need to decide which cat is best for the task." With that remark, she turned and walked away.

* * *

"Lionheart," Palefur meowed.

"Lionheart," Leopardstar agreed.

"I won't fail you," Lionheart promised.

"We know," Tallstar said.

"Good luck, Lionheart," Raggedstar said.


	2. Lionheart's First Mission

**I have never written a chapter this short until now. I haven't updated in a while though, and I figured it was time.**

**Enjoy :)**

Lionheart gave one last nod in Bluestar's direction, and received an encouraging nod in return.

He crossed the StarClan and Dark Forest border. Never in his wildest dreams could he have predicted that he would ever cross this border. If he was spotted, StarClan and the four clans would harshly pay for his mistake. He couldn't fail this.

His mission was to eavesdrop on Tigerstar. But, he didn't even know what he was to listen for! What if he was making a huge mistake?

Lionheart slowly crept along the undergrowth, rolling in mud every time he caught so much as a glimpse of his bright fur. Without his disguise, the Dark Forest warriors would have spotted his bright pelt from forests away.

As he ducked through mazes of bramble and bracken, he became more nervous. When the reddish she-cat had hurried through StarClan's hunting grounds, some proof of her stay was the little patch of fur held by the blackberry bush.

The forest was endless. Or at least, it seemed that way. As he wandered, he saw nothing but trees, boulders, and logs. In StarClan, you could always see far into the territory, and lights loomed everlasting around you. The Dark Forest was much different. Much darker. In the Dark Forest, the only thing you could feel was the chilly breeze. You were left alone with any mysterious sounds that were carried by the night.

Voices! The sound was unmistakable. Lionheart found it hard to resist the urge to spring forward and be sure that he didn't miss any of their plans being announced. He needed to be careful, though. He slowed down and maintained a new, steady pace.

He ducked between a patch of ferns, and waited. Cats were still assembling, and he took advantage of their loud chatter by shifting his weight to one side.

Lionheart had only thought that there were a few cats like Tigerstar. Only a handful who would betray their clan. Not... Not this many! There were enough to create their own clan, and it looked like they had already adopted a leader.

Tigerstar. Tigerclaw. Tigerpaw. Tigerkit. He wasn't a leader in Lionheart's eyes. This cat had murdered him. Lionheart would never forget the desperation he had fought with when he was moribund, or the horror that Lionheart had felt as he watched him from StarClan, preparing the trap that had led Cinderpaw to the Thunderpath. Lionheart bristled. This cat had murdered his friends and family. Cats were still trying to rebuild their lives after he had torn them down. The multitude of other cats attending this meeting had caused the same devastation.

Why?


End file.
